isbn0495011665

Reader' Reviews

crap exposition, great problems / / 2009-12-20
I used this textbook in a Calculus 3 course, so my primary experience is with chapters 12-16, but I did find myself referencing chapters 3, 4, 7, and 10 extensively to refresh my memory (and to learn some things I hadn't learned in high school BC Calculus).

The exposition is, for lack of a better word, "meh". It relies mostly on giving a few definitions, working through a few simple examples, then throwing hordes of problems at the reader. Now, this is perfectly fine for a lower division mathematics textbook -- such a process builds mathematical maturity (at least for me it did), but I would've liked the text, if anything, to rely *less* on showing by example and more on providing mathematical motivation for the given topics (the "big picture" of what we're trying to do, so to speak, rather than a few examples of technical details). The text's quality in this regard also has a fairly steep downward slope as the book progresses -- the text was readable and informative for, perhaps, the first 11 chapters, but from chapters 12-16 it's just really hard to learn from it on your own (and believe me, when you miss class, you have to do that).

Now, to the good part of the book (and the reason why the book gets a good 4 star rating rather than a 2 star one): problems! This book is filled to the brim with tons of exercises that range from routine to fairly difficult (and a special "problems plus" section, outside of the main exercise sets, that range from difficult to nightmarishly difficult). DO YOUR HOMEWORK! Seriously, if you are taking a course with this book, then you owe it to yourself to do the problems that are assigned at the *very least*. They are, for the most part, interesting and will help you build your mathematical ability and, more importantly, understand the material. Do extra problems, think about them, understand what you're doing instead of simply looking for the right thing to plug into. Believe me, it's worth it.

So the final verdict? The text isn't very well written and the examples are pretty poorly chosen (this especially applies to the last 1/3 of the book), but the problem sets are wonderful.

--Ashraf Eassa

Do NOT buy this book! / / 2009-11-02
I've been using this book for nearly a semester now and I can say with all confidence that it is the worst Mathematics book I have ever read in my life. It was written in a very long-winded and unclear style which discourages the reader from actually sitting down to read it.

Maths is all about succinctness; something this book definitely does not have. There are many examples, which is great, but the preceding theory and explanation is too weak to support the reader's understanding. Too many 'terms' which made me lose track on many occasions. Instead of limiting the number of terms used and sticking to as few versions of a formula as possible, Mr. Stewart appears to love rearranging formulae and giving them numbers which leaves the reader completely confused. Trust me, you do not need 1100+ pages of text (and many pictures!) to teach you good Maths. Take my advice and seek some other book, anything but this book.

Calculus: Early Transcendentals (Stewart's Calculus Series) / / 2009-10-17
This product was purchased for my granddaughter who is a sophomore in college. She received the book in a timely manner and found it to be in the condition that was listed in the catalog. I could not comment on the content, because the book was shipped directly to her.

Great Service! / / 2009-10-15
Thanks for the great service! The book arrived in an appropriate amount of time, and it was in pristine condition!

Required Text for Calculus I / / 2009-10-03
This text is required for an online Calculus I course at the UC Berkeley Extension.

So far, easy to read and understand. This class is a self-paced study program, so learning is from the text, vs. lecture or class discussion. So far, I haven't had any problem understanding the concepts presented.